It Takes Only One
by writinggurl101
Summary: It's crazy how it can take only one person, to change everything.   To change how you feel about life.   About yourself. About everything. And they're one person who somehow got you to open up about everything, when you could have shut them out.
1. Chapter 1

Liam Court

Name: Sarah Kirkland

Looks: Long dirty blonde ringlets, green eyes, pale skin but can tan, tall and long eyelashes.

Personality: Fun, quirky, talks to herself, sings a lot, loves Summer and Christmas, not super outgoing but not super shy, smart, doesn't wear a lot of makeup and funny.

Hobbies: Playing guitar, singing, writing songs, reading, watching sunsets and water fights.

Favourites: Christmas (as mentioned), sundresses, cowboy boots, jeans, searching for horoscopes until finding one she likes, sailing, fairy lights, chandeliers, perfumes, hockey and country music.

Story is set: After Liam got hit, but Vanessa is not involved AT ALL! (Thank God right, am i the only one who hates her?) Liam is not happy with Annie, obviously, and is just recovering.

~1~

Liam took hold of all his bills that the front desk lady handed to him.

"There is the last of your papers Mr. Court, i wish you a speedy recovery." the woman said kindly.

"Thanks," he said nodding. He turned away from the desk and started towards the front doors, looking down at his bills.

He let out a long breath. Who knew hospitals cost so much? He knew he could pay for it with the remainder of his modelling money but there was still the bar and his own necessities to take care of too. How was he going to manage it all?

"Damn hit and run-" he began muttering but then was cut off when he bumped into someone.

"Whoa," he heard someone say. He backed up and saw a girl standing there in front of him, maybe three or so inches shorter than him with eye catching hair and eyes that seemed to laugh with an emerald sparkle.

"Sorry," he said instantly, taking in her knee length white cotton dress.

She smiled.

_Holy crap..._

Liam thought. This girl was beautiful, but in a way she didn't even have to try.

She wasn't wearing loads of makeup and her ensemble wasn't complicated.

She was simple and elegant.

"No, don't worry about it. I don't look where I'm going a lot." she said looking down bashfully.

He laughed. "That might be true but i think it was me looking at these insane bills." he said and she nodded.

"Oh yeah?" she said and she really looked at him. "Oh...yeah." she answered her own question. Liam laughed at her tone.

"What happened?" she wondered.

"Hit and run." he told her and she looked annoyed.

"Idiot..." she muttered and he chuckled.

"Yup, I'm thinking pretty much the same thing."

She then looked worried. "Oh my gosh, did you just get out? Did i hurt you? Oh God are you okay?" she asked quickly looking him over.

"I'm fine, don't worry. You didn't break anything." he said and she sighed.

"Okay, good cause I would feel awful if i was the reason those bills increased." He shook his head.

"It's okay, really."

They were silent for a minute.

"I'm Liam." he said, sticking out his hand.

She took his hand in her warm one.

"Sarah." she said.

They both held on a bit too long and they released each others' hands at the same time embarrassed.

"Well, I should get going." she said and he nodded.

"Right, yeah, me too." She began walking around him but turned to keep on talking.

"Sorry about bumping into you and all and I hope you get better soon!" she said and he smiled.

"Yeah, thanks." He continued out the doors and wished he could've talked to her more.

A new year meant a fresh start, and with every fresh start comes new opportunities.


	2. Chapter 2

~2~

A few days had passed after Liam meeting Sarah, and even though Liam had plenty of distractions, he couldn't get her off his mind.

He knew he should move on and try and forget about her, after all, they had met once and he only got her first name. He probably wouldn't even see her again.

He was now out on the pier, squinting at the sun and looking down at the blue sparkling waters. He found it hard to believe just a few days ago he might not have been able to stand right there.

He was looking down at the other people on the beach, thinking about how they probably didn't have a clue how quickly things could change, when he saw familiar shiny curls waving in the wind.

He did a double take and saw Sarah rolling on to her back under her red and white striped umbrella reading a beat up paper back. He laughed to himself.

Seconds ago he was thinking he wasn't going to see her again and there she was, sitting on the sand right beneath him.

"Life's short Court." he said to himself, and with that he jogged down the stairs and walked across the golden sand to where she lay.

"Hey," he said as he reached her. She looked up at him behind blue and yellow sunglasses and she smiled immediately and propped her sunglasses on the top of her head.

"Hello stranger." she said with a laugh.

"I wouldn't say I'm a stranger. You know my name." he said and she sat up.

Liam caught sight of her pearl white two piece.

"It's a figure of speech. Anyways, how are you?" she asked him and he shrugged.

"I'm okay i guess. Taking it easy like the doc said but it's driving me mental not being able to do anything."

She nodded. "Yeah, i could see that being hard. No freedom hey?" he nodded.

"Pretty much."

"Which reminds me, you're that model guy right?" she asked and he raised an eyebrow surprised.

"How'd you know?" she laughed.

"This is gonna sound pretty stupid but I recognized your abs." he laughed with her.

"Really?" he asked and she nodded.

"Unfortunately I'm extremely observant." she said as he nodded.

"No kidding..." he trailed and she stood up, brushing sand off of her.

"How about I let you do something that's fun, but also safe?" she said and he put his arms out.

"Please, anything." she laughed and walked towards the docks.

"So how come you were at the hospital?" Liam asked as he felt sand underneath his toes.

"My gran, she had a stroke a few days back and I visit every summer so I usually stay with her. We're close. And when that happened, i decided to be with her every day that i could. She'll be okay though, my grandpa's been with her twenty four seven so I know she'll be well cared for."

He nodded. "Sorry about that." he said and she shook her head.

"It was scary, but like i said, she'll be fine." she told him.

"What's the story with you?" she asked. "Do the police know who it was?"

Liam frowned. "Unfortunately not. All they know is that the car was maroon cause of the scratches on my bike." he grimaced, remembering his bike was wrecked.

"Oh, that sucks. Sorry about the bike. My brother has one. It's pretty sweet, but super scary though."

Liam laughed. "No it's great. If it ever gets fixed I'll take you out and show you the non-scary part of it." he said and Sarah looked up at him.

"Yeah? Well if you drive like my brother i find that hard to believe." Liam gave her a sympathetic look.

"Well I'll go extra slow for you." he said in a baby kind of voice. She hit his arm.

"Oh shut up. Drive normally. It's just sketchy on the turns." he laughed.

"Those are my favourite." he said and she rolled her eyes.

"Great..." she muttered.

They began walking along the docks.

"What're we doing here?" Liam asked.

"We," Sarah began turning, and stopping in front of a grand boat.

"Are going out on the water. After you." she said with a smile and he raised his brows.

"You know how to drive this thing?" he asked and she laughed.

"That i do. You'll just have to owe me and take me out on that bike." she said and he jumped up on to the dock.

"It's a deal."

"This is amazing." Liam said sitting back on the boat as Sarah steered it over the calm waters.

"'Yup, this is what drags me down here every summer." she agreed.

"Where are you from then?" he asked.

"BC. You know? Canada. Yup, I live on Vancouver Island but i come down here for part of the summer just to see my grandparents and sail. I usually visit only in the summer, but the new year was coming around and I needed to get away for a while."

"Oh yeah? I know the feeling. Must be nice to travel once a year." he said and she nodded.

"It is. But i do miss the small town life sometimes." she said. "And the fam." she laughed. "Sometimes..." she trailed and Liam chuckled but then thought about his "family" and it dies off.

"Got any siblings?" she asked and Liam wondered about whether or not to tell her about Jasper.

"One, but we don't talk too much. He doesn't live around here." she nodded, not asking questions.

"Mom and dad?" she asked.

"My mom, well i haven't seen her in a while, and my dad, well I try and forget about him as much as i can." he said with a bitter smile. She saw it and nodded.

"Right, yeah my dad...God before he got help he was horrible." she said and Liam raised a brow.

"Help?" He wondered.

"He went to counselling for a few years up until last year. He needed to be fixed. Ever since i can remember he was always a self righteous, selfish, stubborn, most obnoxious person i ever knew. And he and my sister shared a lot of the same traits, especially the self righteousness and being stubborn, so they fought a lot." she said heavily, obviously bothered by memories. "Like not even the way teens do with their dads. This was, things being thrown, people driving off into the middle of the night, little brother crying, mom screaming, kind of fighting. I would hide in my room, terrified." she laughed once. " It went on for years. I was classified as an anxious nervous kid that would shut down the first sign of yelling by the time i was eleven. Got better at school when i got teased." she rolled her eyes.

"Why did you get teased?" he asked and she sighed.

"Because, i was different. All the other girls had the straight hair and perfect teeth and clothes, while i had frizzed out hair, braces and hand-me-downs and played guitar instead of baseball."

"And because of that you got bullied?" he asked and she nodded.

"Sad right?" she asked and he laughed and nodded.

"What about you?" she asked him suddenly. "Why do you talk so poorly about your family?" Liam sighed before he laid back and launched into his story.

He was quite surprised at how quiet Sarah he was talking about this, she stood and sailed the boat, sun beating down on her face and her eyes drifting from the water to him every so often.

"And, as you could guess," Liam said as his life story came to a close. "that's why I'm not the biggest fan on them twenty four seven."

She shrugged. "It's understandable. People have it rough all over." she said wisely. "Speaking of which," she said waving a hand towards herself, gesturing him to come forward which he did. "I think you should stay out of the sun for a little while. Those cuts don't look too happy." she said with a frown and he raised his arms.

"Out of the sun?" he asked. "Where else is there to go?" Sarah smiled and suddenly took his hands in hers and placed them on the wheel.

"Just hold this steady." she said to him firmly, which he did while she raced around the boat, letting out several sails and cranking different ropes before she turned and huffed.

"Okay, we are anchored." she said and skipped to where an old tarp lay before pulling off the tarp to reveal a hatch which she swung open. "And we're going down. Come on!" she said with a laugh, dropping down.

Liam chuckled and followed after her, and used the ladder, knowing his bones would scream at him if he tried to jump like she had.

Liam found himself int he bottom of the ship but it didn't look like it was. The walls were a nice creamy colour and the floor was hardwood.

"Sarah?" he called down the hall.

"Right here." she said from behind him, and Liam jumped. She smiled, laughing. "This way." she said turning down the hall.

He walked down with her and saw several family pictures of people who looked somewhat like Sarah. Her and her mom look exactly the same, and her dad and her had the same nose. Her sisters looked different but one had similar hair, but more wavy.

"Welcome," Sarah said with a smile in her voice as she opened a door. "to my oasis."

Liam stepped in and him mouth fell open. There was a complete kitchen and dining room, which was small and compact but fit well into the boat. There was a couch with a flat screen TV and CD's lined the walls with records hung proudly on pegs. There was a pool table and a bookcase full of movies, and a cozy well-sat-in chair nestled by the bookcase.

"You-you only come down here _once a year_?" Liam asked shocked. "Do you realize i could _live _here if i wanted to? God this place is amazing!" he said walking around taking it in.

"That's what happens when your grandparents win the lottery..." she mumbled with a small laugh.

"No kidding..." he trailed still stunned.

"So," Sarah said brushing past him to the fridge. "what's for lunch?" she asked opening the door. Liam shook his head.

"Lunch can wait," he said venturing down the other hallway opposite the living area.

" Oh-Okay!" she said jogging to catch up with him.

"What's down here?" he asked, flipping on the lights.

"The bedrooms." she answered.

"You have beds on a boat. You have freaking bedrooms on a boat!" she laughed at his exclamation.

"How many?" he asked and she counted on her fingers.

"Five." she told him. "One for my brothers, one for my sisters, grandparents, parents, and me. I get my own room since I'm down here more than anyone else." she explained as he pushed open a door.

"That's my grandparents room there, parents, brothers, sisters, bathroom, and me." she said stopping in front of a spruce coloured door. "Go ahead." she said.

He turned the doorknob slowly, and the door swung open to reveal a dark room, until Sarah switched on a light and a small chandelier sprang to life as well as strings of fairy lights strung about through the rafters on the ceiling.

"Wow." he said. The room was spacious and somewhat clean, there were a few stray bras and dresses lying about but Liam bypassed those. Her bed was on the back wall, centred between her dresser and sitting area where she had a coffee table and a few beanie bag chairs. She had a huge bookcase full of worn out paperbacks like the one she had been reading on the beach, and a few glossy hard covers were dotted here and there. A guitar sat right beside her bed in its stand, glossy and beautiful. It had Sarah written on the neck in reflective shells as well as several wisps crawling up the neck and it was made of koa wood. Liam recognized the wood from working with boats. The carpet was soft and reached beyond his toes. It reminded him of grass. Snow globes lined the bookcase and postcards lived on the walls as well as different photos of Sarah and her friends and family.

"Wow." Liam said again. Sarah sat on her bed and blushed.

"I know it's a lot, but at home it's not like this. We do have our own rooms but I'm living in the attic and my mom and dad are in the basement so my siblings can have the three other actual rooms." she sighed and looked around. "This is one of my favourite places to be."

"But Metchosin is great. Amazing. I wish you knew." she said and Liam smiled at her.

"Maybe one day i will." he said and she blushed and looked to her guitar.

"So you play." Liam confirmed and she nodded.

"Yeah, since i was thirteen." she told him, picking up the guitar and crossing her legs so it rested gently on her propped leg. "I love it. I write songs too, since the same age. It used to be poems but then i started playing and the poems turned into songs." she explained and Liam nodded.

"Play me something." he said and she laughed with shock.

"What?" she asked and he sat on the bed beside her and poked her leg.

"Come on. You really think you were gonna pick up your guitar and not play me something? At least? It would be a bonus if you sung..." he trailed and she laughed and hit him with her shoulder playfully.

"Okay, okay!" she said and strummed aimlessly. "Well um...what do you want me to play?" she asked and he shrugged.

"Anything you know." he said to her and she sighed and ran a hand through her hair in thought.

"Do you know drops of Jupiter?" she asked him and Liam scoffed.

"That's one of my favourite songs!" he said and she smiled.

"Really? Me too!" she said and he nodded.

"Come on, lets hear it." he said and she laughed and strummed.

When Sarah finished Liam was amazed.

"Holy..God Sarah you're incredible." he said and her face immediately turned red and she beamed.

"Oh my gosh," she said stunned at him comment. "thank you." she said and he shook his head.

"You deserve it. I'm not kidding, i know people would listen to you on the radio." he said and she frowned.

"See, that's the hard part. The whole, making-it-to-the-big-time." she rolled her eyes. "Liam, there are thousands, millions, of people out there who are just as good if not better than me. And we all have the same goal: to be signed to a label and to make our own albums. But the chances are one in several million." she said to him seriously. Liam could tell she wanted so badly to be on a label but also knew how hard it was gonna be to get there.

"Well, you're the one in several million." he said and Sarah sighed and put back her guitar and rested her hands in her lap.

"Thank you, but tell that to every major record company in the nation." she said and he rolled his eyes.

"Anyone would be lucky to have you on their label. What's this?" he asked, snatching some papers off the floor which he would've missed had Sarah not brushed them with her foot, moving them out from under her bed.

Sarah made a grab for the papers. "Hey!" she said. "those are mine!" he laughed and held them out of her reach and she leaned in trying to get them.

"Liam stop! Just give me the lyrics back!" she said and Liam grinned.

"Lyrics hey? A song?" he wondered and she groaned and leaned in more.

"Just give them to me!"

Then Sarah and Liam were chest to chest, and almost nose to nose. Sarah noticed it when Liam looked back at her and saw the tiny flecks of green and blue in his eyes.

Liam noticed it when he smelled her hair and felt it tickling his neck. He cleared his throat as Sarah leaned back out sheepishly and allowed him to look at them.

Sarah watched his eyes scan the papers.

"This," he began as he carried on reading. "this is really good." he said and Sarah leaned back on her pillows.

"It's for my best friend." she said and he nodded.

"What's it about?" he asked. "It's called fifteen. Is that when the time frame was?"

Sarah nodded. "I met my best friend when i was fifteen and we both went through this time when we both kinda felt tiny in this huge world of high school." she rolled her eyes and laughed. "But she got treated really badly by a guy and I just immediately wrote this when i saw this picture of us like a month after we met." she sighed and Liam saw her eyes fall on a picture on her coffee table of Sarah's arms around a red head with curly hair and a big smile.

"Abigail was always there for me when the people you would expect would be there for me weren't. And she's always just been a huge cheerleader. I play all my music for her, and she compliments me to no end-"

"Can you blame her?" Liam interjected and Sarah laughed and carried on.

"Anyways," she said with a laugh. "I wrote that for her a few nights ago. Her birthday's coming up and I'm gonna perform it for her. I can't wait to see her face." she giggled at the imaginary thought of it.

Liam settled himself beside her. "How did you make those lines rhyme?" he asked. "I mean they do rhyme but which words?" he asked pointing to a verse on the piece of lined paper.

Sarah chuckled. "It's not the words, it's the syllables. If you fit the right amount of syllables together then it works. Some people write words in the middle of the line and rhyme it with one in the end or vice versa. Or, the last two words rhyme or the first two...You get the point." she said with a shrug but then pointed to the line. "See, if you count the amount of syllables there is an equal amount so they fit together nicely."

Liam took in this information. "So you think about all this just when writing a song?" he asked and she giggled again. "Sounds like too much work." he said and she shook her head.

"No, most of the time i don't even think about it. It's just something that's automatic."


	3. Chapter 3

~3~

Sarah and Liam laid on her bed for the next hour or so, Sarah explaining song writing techniques and also playing him the occasional song.

Liam was just so shocked that someone like Sarah existed.

She was nice, funny and genuine. She could laugh at herself and she laughed easily at others. Her personality just made her more beautiful.

"And then after that i vowed to myself never to go near a clown again." Sarah said with a laugh, grinning.

"Sounds traumatic." Liam snickered.

"Well for a ten year old," Sarah began defensively, " when a clown named Mr. Bubbles with yellow teeth and red lips starts coming towards you with a ten foot snake calling you sweetie, yeah it's traumatic." she said and Liam couldn't help but laugh.

Just then Sarah's stomach growled.

Liam began to laugh while Sarah blushed and sprang to her feet.

"See, this is what you get for making me wait for lunch." she said walking down the hallway. Liam clambered after her and by the time he caught up he heard pots and pans clanging against each other.

"Well sorry, i was a bit sidetracked." he apologized with humour.

"It's okay." she said and handed him a pan. "Put this on the stove and heat it to five and then get the cheese from the fridge." she instructed him and he did so while Sarah opened a drawer and grabbed something from the table.

"What are we making here exactly?" he asked and Sarah smiled.

"Grilled cheese!" she exclaimed. "I love grilled cheese!" she said and he laughed.

"You sound like you're seven." he said, picturing her camping with her family and running around excited for lunch.

"I'm glad i do." she said. "It's...chionderful..Childish and wonderful." she said and Liam raised a brow as she took out some plates and put two pieces of bread on each one.

"'Chionderful'?" he asked. "Adding new words to the dictionary are we?" he asked, taking the knife Sarah had gotten him into his hand and slicing the cheese.

"Well yeah..." Sarah said with a shrug. "It makes the world a better place does it not?" she asked him and he laughed and she laughed too and bumped him, taking the cheese from his hand. "You know my brother didn't know how to make grilled cheese until last year?"

Liam chuckled. "Really? How old is he?" he asked her.

"Twenty two."

"What?" Liam exclaimed surprised.

"I know! It was so sad! I've been making grilled cheese by myself since i was in Girl Guides." she said and Liam snickered.

"Girl Guides?" he asked. "Seriously?"

Sarah began buttering the bread. "What? I promise to do my best, to be true to myself, my God and Canada, I will help others and accept the guiding law." she recited the promise of the guides.

Liam was laughing. "You still remember?" he asked amazed.

"I still remember." Sarah confirmed putting the sandwiches in the pan and sizzling began to ring out into the air. "It really shaped who i was. One time our toilets stopped working and we used buckets." she said bitterly as Liam winced. "Yup, best camping trip of my life..." she muttered, grabbing a flipper.

"I wasn't in anything like that. We were moving a lot so my mom never really got me into clubs or organizations."

Sarah frowned and flipped the sandwiches.

"It must've been hard." she said and Liam leaned against the counter and shrugged.

"It wasn't the best childhood, no, but I made it out okay." he said and she smiled.

"That you did." she agreed. Liam met her gaze and Sarah gave him a reassuring smile and jerked her head to a cupboard beside her.

"Wanna get some drinks? There's cups in the cupboard and drinks in the fridge." she laughed at herself. "Where else are drinks gonna be Sarah? You idiot..." she muttered and Liam chuckled as he got out two cups and looked into the fridge.

"What do you want?" he asked and Sarah shrugged.

"Anything, i don't care. Take your pick." she said and Liam grabbed orange juice for the two of them. He poured the glasses and saw that Sarah was sliding the sandwiches off the spatula and onto the plates, tongue sticking out with focus.

"Okay, we're good." Sarah said, taking the plates to the table and setting them down, she pulled out a chair for herself and Liam did the same for himself putting down the glasses.

Sarah sat and took a satisfying bite out of her grilled cheese and Liam did the same.

"This isn't bad." He said and Sarah laughed.

"Were you doubting my culinary skills?" she asked him and he shrugged.

"Well when you learn how to make grilled cheese as a Girl Guide you can never be too careful." he smirked and Sarah kicked him under the table playfully.

"I'll have you know i earned my cooking badge for my grilled cheese!" she told him. "It was the best in the camp, hands down."

Liam raised his brows. "You sure about that?" he asked.

"Positive." Sarah said with narrowed eyes, before the both laughed.

"What's your last name anyways?" Liam asked, thinking about how he only knew her first.

"Kirkland. Sarah Kirkland." she told him. "What about you?" she asked with a quirked brow and a small smirk playing at the edge of her mouth.

"Court." he said and she nodded.

"Right, Liam Court." she said. "Now that's a name meant for a model." she winked and Liam chuckled and sighed.

"Yup, not so much anymore."

"Oh yeah?" she asked. "Why's that?"

He shrugged and finished off his sandwich. "They had me on this stupid contract, pretty much restricting me from doing anything fun." he said. "I may as well be on that contract now." he said looking at the bruises on his arms.

"Well now!" she said with a grin. "I don't know about you but I thought this was pretty good fun-wise." she said and Liam laughed and nodded.

"It is, it is." he assured her, catching her green eyed gaze. "Thank you." he said. "I really needed this." he said and she smiled and gave him a shrug.

"It's the least I can do. I know what it's like feeling trapped with no where to go. Nothing to do." she said and Liam raised his eyebrows.

"When?" he asked and Sarah stiffened noticeably and swallowed a lump in her throat.

"We don't have to get into that now." she said with a laugh and downing her orange juice before she rose and took their dishes to the sink.

Liam sat in his chair still, watching Sarah's back as she filled the sink with warm soapy water. What could she be hiding? She had told him about her family, and he knew that must've been hard for her. What could be harder?

"I can help." Liam said, standing and stopping beside Sarah who was scrubbing hard at a clan plate.

"No it's fine." she said through a clenched jaw.

"I can, really." he said and Sarah shook her head, still waring down the plate with her qucik and forceful brushes.

"No." she said flatly. Liam pursed his lips, and took a dirty plate in his hands anyway and grabbed a cloth and began cleaning it.

She laughed bitterly. "You never listen do you?" she asked and Liam shrugged.

"Rarely." he said and she rolled her eyes.

"Give me the plate." she demanded.

"Nope," Liam said holding it a bit out of her reach. "not until you tell me." he said and she stared up at Liam with a burning gaze.

"Trust me," she said reaching for the plate. "you don't wanna know." she said and Liam didn't move his hand.

"No, i think i do." he said and she groaned.

"Please just give me the damn plate." she growled and Liam shook his head.

"Not gonna happen." he said and she shook her head.

"Why are you so stubborn?" she asked and he smirked.

"I thought that was one of my good traits." he said and she narrowed her eyes.

"Liam. The plate. Now." she said and when he didn't do anything she struggled, trying to reach up to him and he was snickering. "Liam," she said with a small laugh-she was trying not to.

"No, nope, nope." he said holding it away from her.

"Stop it!" Liam felt Sarah's soapy hands lock on to his wrist and he tried to pull away but he couldn't. He didn't want to.

The plate was then being tugged between the two of them, both grunting with effort. Then Sarah's hands slipped off the plate and Liam stumbled backward and the plate slipped from his grasp as well.

They watched as the plate flew up into the air, and came back down and landed with a huge splash in the sink, splattering them well with water.

They were silent, before Sarah looked to Liam and he looked back at her. They were both emotionless but then burst out laughing.

"See what you did?" she asked. He shrugged.

"This wouldn't have happened had you told me earlier." he said, reaching into the sink and flicking water at her.

She gasped as the droplets landed on her face. "You didn't just do that." she said and he smiled.

"I think i just did." he said splashing more water on to her. She reached in and grabbed aa cup full of water with her hands and threw it at him.

Then it was an all out war. Liam was using a cup to throw water onto Sarah while Sarah was running around the kitchen trying to avoid him until she reached into a cabinet and took out a giant pot and filled it.

"No, no, no." Liam said backing away, hands up in surrender. Sarah was grinning evilly as she advanced towards him. "Sarah, Sarah," he cautioned. Sarah tossed the water out of the pot and it landed squarely on Liam, soaking him.

Liam wiped water away from his eyes to see Sarah doubled over on the counter, laughing hysterically.

"You really shouldn't have done that." he said and her laughter faded and looked up.

"Oh but it was amazing." she said and he shook his sopping wet head.

She stood there arms crossed. "What're you gonna do? I've won this war." she said and Liam smirked.

"Oh this is not over." he ran headfirst towards her, ducking under her arm and flipping her on to his back.

"Liam!" her voice was high pitched and hysteric. "Liam put me down!" she demanded legs flailing. Liam ran down to the bathroom, where her put Sarah down in the bathtub and turned on the shower head.

"Ah!" Sarah screamed as the cold water hit her, it then warmed but she was fighting to get out as Liam blocked her way.

Liam eventually ended up falling on top of her and she stopped screaming and started laughing. Her legs were over the edge of the tub and Liam was awkwardly tangled up with her. She sighed and turned off the water as Liam sat up.

"Truce?" she asked, sticking out a tan hand and he nodded.

"Truce." he agreed, standing up and grabbing two towels for them both.

"God, we're so wet." she said taking the towel from him, and wrapping it around her shoulders. Liam laughed.

"At least you were dressed for this!" he exclaimed about her swimsuit. She smirked.

"Well your shorts will dry. I'll get you some spares from my brothers room while you put those out to dry." she said, leaving the bathroom and wandering down the hall where he heard drawers opening. After a few minutes, Liam began wondering what was taking her so long. He walked in after her and found her with his back to him, looking down at something in her hands. Liam could see she had changed. Maybe that's what had taken her so long.

"Hey, what's-" he didn't finish because that's when she turned and showed him the foot long bong.


	4. Chapter 4

~4~

"My brother's." she glowered. Liam didn't say anything. "Just when i thought this was the one place he could get away from it all..." she trailed humoured with shock.

"Sarah, I meant it when I asked you. I do want to know." Liam said taking the bong from her hands and setting it on the dresser. "How you got me to tell you all about myself in one afternoon...I don't know. But please," he pleaded. "let me try and help you." he said and she shrugged.

"Why? Why do you want to help me so badly?" she asked and he shrugged.

"I've done a lot of stuff I'm not proud of in the past. Lets say that this year, I wanna fix that." he told her and she sighed and sat on the made bed.

"John." she said. "John was his name. My ex-boyfriend. I dated him for a year or so and thought he was 'the one' but I never wanted to do anything with him he did. Sex to me isn't just something you do on impulse or because you need to get over someone. I'm not a virgin now anyways..." she trailed and Liam raised a brow. "Mostly because John got me really drunk and well...I agreed. And i never would have if i had been sober but that was just too bad for me. And then i wake up, hungover and confused and he's there smirking." she rolled her eyes. "Called me sweetheart." she grimaced. "I was never his sweetheart. Never after that. I got up and changed and left. He thought i was overreacting. I never got anything out of that experience except the memories and never fully trusting guys." she sighed. "And a song. I wrote a song about him. But he knew i wrote songs about my relationships so he should've known."

Liam took this in. "Why do you trust me then? I mean I met you four days ago and I'm on your boat and we've talked and had lunch...we had a water fight in your kitchen," Sarah and Liam laughed. "so why do you trust me?" he asked her and she looked to him, and Liam was shocked at her eyes. He knew they were green but seeing them six inches away...

They were large and pure. They had depth and although this was a sad subject they seemed to be constantly smiling. He spotted tiny flecks of blue and a crystal blue so pale it almost looked white.

She looked down embarrassed and shrugged looking back up.

"I-I don't know." she told him. "It's somehow different with you. I think it's because we both have a past we want to leave behind. You and your family and issues with friends, and then me with my family and John. I think i trust you because i know you don't trust people easily either, and seeing the similarity I just...wanted to know what made you the way you are." she said and he sighed and looked to the ceiling.

"That," he said leaning back. "is something we have in common." he said and she looked to the clock.

"It's getting late. Do you need to be anywhere?" she asked and he shook his head with a laugh.

"Nope. I'm all yours." he said, sitting up on his elbows to see her with a mysterious smirk.

"Great," she said standing and taking his wrist with her. "I want to show you something." she said. They walked throughout the hallways until they came back to the ladder.

She went up first and pushed the trap door open and stood above him on the deck. Liam climbed up as well, holding back a wince as his muscles objected to him movements.

"This is why I love coming out here." she said and he looked at her in question. She giggled and turned him around.

Liam had never seen so many colours before.

The sun was a giant orb of scarlet, sinking into a navy blue blanket. Pinks, oranges, yellows, shades of violet and light blue all danced in the dusk.

Sarah stood beside him and Liam could see her smiling out of the corner of his eye.

He looked to her and saw her tan skin was outlined in a golden glow, and the sun was catching the blonde pieces in her hair and turning them to gold.

There was a slight mist rolling over the water, silver and carefree.

"This..." Liam struggled to find words. "this is amazing. Thank you Sarah. Really." he said and she smiled at him briefly.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad I finally have someone to enjoy this with." she said and he laughed.

"You can call on me anytime." he said to her and she laughed.

"Good." she said.

"Why are you so nice?" he asked and she looked to him, a eyebrow raised. "I mean, a couple hours ago I was a perfect stranger to you and now you've abducted me-"

"I would not call this an abduction." she cut him off and he chuckled. "Call it a random act of kindness." she said and he nodded.

"Right." he said and they looked back to the water to watch the final seconds of the sun sinking down.

"What happens now?" Asked Liam and Sarah walked over to the wheel.

"Now, we wait." she said.

"For what?" She smiled at his question and sighed, looking up to the starless sky.

"For the stars. The best view of them is from here. They're everywhere out here." she said dreamily.

Liam nodded as Sarah walked to a cabinet and pulled out a thick quilt and two pillows.

"I do this a lot." she said with a laugh, laying down the blanket and pillows in an ordered fashion. She sunk down, cross legged and looked up at Liam innocently.

"Well, are you gonna sit down or what?" she asked and Liam chuckled, and took a seat beside her.

"I like this." he said. "No drama, no arguments or scandals...just simplicity." he laid back, hands behind his head on to the pillow.

Sarah laid down beside him on the other pillow, and gasped excitedly and pointed to the sky.

"Oh look! The first ones are starting to come out." she smiled. "I love the stars." she sighed. "I mean you look up there and you see all of them...and you just know there's gotta be something more." She turned her head to look at Liam, who felt her gaze and stared back.

"Were you scared?" she asked. "When you got hit, did you think you were gonna die?" she asked and he shrugged.

"It's not that I'm afraid of dying really...I'm more afraid of time. And not having enough of it." he explained and she nodded.

"I know. I've seen it happen, where people are there one minute and the next you're wearing all black at their funeral. And it's like time didn't pass at all. It just skipped ahead and that three months felt like three hours." she told him. "I had an old friend die of stomach cancer when she was sixteen. And she had made a list of things she wanted to do. She had just finished backpacking across Europe and came back home when she died. But at least she got some good memories out of the last few moments of her life here." Sarah said to him.

Liam was thinking about how strange this all was. Even though he and Sarah had just met, they had spent and entire day together and now he felt like he knew her for a year.

"I'm sorry about your friend." he started off. Sarah shrugged.

"She wouldn't have wanted me to be sad about it. Same goes with other people." Sarah said to him.

"That's understandable. I wouldn't want my friends to be sad about me being dead, I would want them being happy about the life I had." Liam said and Sarah nodded.

"To remember you when you were happiest." she murmured.

"Exactly." he said and she pointed to the now twinkling sky.

"I see the big dipper." she said. "Right there," her one eye was closed and her tongue was sticking out between her teeth with focus. Liam laughed.

"You look funny when you think." he said and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't judge." she elbowed him in the ribs. He pretended to make it look like he was badly hurt more than he was. He clutched his ribs groaning and wincing in pain.

Sarah bolted upright. "Oh dear God, Liam! I am so sorry! Are you okay?" she asked and Liam started laughing.

"Oh my God you jerk!" she said and hit him in the arm.

"Ow," he said. "okay that time it actually hurt." he said and she rolled her eyes.

"Well that's what you get when you cry wolf." she said and he sat up on his elbows.

"I'm not the one who attacked an injured person." he said and she laughed.

"Please! You're hardly injured." he raised a brow. "Okay, whatever." she said accepting the fact he wasn't in the best shape. "But you're still tough and me elbowing you lightly doesn't mean you can go and dive and give me a heart attack."

"Dive? What do you mean by me diving?" he asked.

"It's a hockey term." she told him. "Diving is when you make something look worse than it actually was. Like when someone nudges you and you act like they've cracked a rib." she said with a bitter but light tone.

He smiled. "Well, fun fact of the day: Diving is when a player embellishes a call." he said and she smiled.

"You watch it?" she asked and he shook his head.

"Oh no, NFL all the way." he said and she shook her head.

"I'm gonna have to change that. NHL is the way to go bud." she said.

"We'll see about that."

When Liam looked back up, the entire sky was now like a blanket of diamonds, all sparkling like tiny individual lights.

"Holy..." he never finished and she giggled.

"See?" she asked and leaned back on her hands, nudging him with her shoulder. "I told you."

He nodded. "Yeah, you did."

They sat silently, and eventually both laid back down before the rocking off the boat rocked them both to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

~5~

Liam awoke in the middle of the night and looked down to see Sarah snuggled into his chest. He smiled to himself. Even asleep she looked amazing. He sighed and decided just to fall back asleep, he knew how awkward it would be if they both woke up at the same time in their current position.

Liam later felt someone jostling him. He moaned and opened one eye to see the form of Sarah leaning over him with a soft smile on her lips.

"Hey," she whispered. "we must've fallen asleep. And it gets ridiculously cold out here." Liam felt himself shiver but wondered if it was from the frigid air or the fact that Sarah's long, flawless curls were tickling his neck.

"Come on," she said, standing and he felt her hair brush his chin as she did so. He took her hand as she helped him up and he felt her give it a squeeze.

"Gosh, you're freezing." she said shocked.

"Sorry." Liam said instantly. Did she mean it in a bad way?

She shook her head and chuckled before giving his hand another squeeze. "No," she said. "it's okay. I don't mind."

Sarah lead him across the boat and to the hatch, her warm hand never leaving Liam's until she had to open the trap door.

"After you." Sarah said, gesturing with her hand for him to go ahead. Liam climbed down the ladder and waited for Sarah to jump. Just before she did, Liam smirked as he saw her feet lift off the ground. He caught her hips firmly in his hands and Sarah's breath caught in surprise.

"Oh," she said looking down at him-he had her elevated. Liam smiled. "thanks." she said to him. Liam took a deep breath of her perfume, which he knew was natural. It was too good to be sold on store shelves and too unique to fit anyone else.

"You're welcome." Liam didn't know why-maybe it was because he was tired and didn't have enough energy to think right-but he was willing to be flirty with Sarah. More than before when he was actually with it. Sarah seemed the same way.

Liam felt Sarah's hand find his, and he twined their fingers together as she walked down the hall. Just then he heard a defining bump and Sarah halted suddenly. She had walked into something.

"Dammit." she muttered. "The door's closed." she laughed once.

He chuckled as she swung the door to her room open. He then let go of her hand and walked ahead of her quickly. He tore off his shirt. Now that they were under cover, he felt too warm. It might've been from being so close with Sarah, but either way he striped it off and fell back on her bed with a sigh.

He closed his eyes but then heard Sarah giggle and he opened them just in time to see her getting on to the bed, knees first, and she laid down in Liam's now open arms and snaked her arms around his middle and he let his hands rest on the small of her back. He looked down at her and guessed her eyes were closed since her usual emerald sparkle wasn't reflective in the room.

"You're the kind of guy." she mumbled sleepily.

"I'm the kind of guy what?" Liam asked. She turned into him so her head was on his shoulder and her lips just barely touched the skin of his collar bone.

"You're the kind of guy I wish I had fallen for instead of putting up walls to protect myself." Liam took in these words and swallowed. He didn't know why right then his hold tightened on her but he let himself.

"You're the kind of girl I wish i had met a long time ago. Then I could've avoided a lot of let downs." he told her honestly.

Sarah sighed. "Lets face it. Life screws us all over." he laughed and rubbed her back.

"Guess no one dies a virgin then eh?" he asked and her laughter shook him.

"Good point." she said.

Liam reached over to the side of the bed where he saw a blanker folded. He spread it out over the two of them before placing one hand on her back, and the other stroked her soft hair. They were silent and happy.

Then Liam spoke. "I don't want you to leave." he said honestly. Although he had just met Sarah, he could picture himself being with her all the time. He loved being around her.

When Sarah didn't answer, he listened for a moment and then heard a soft snore come from her and he chucked and enjoyed the moment.

The next time Liam awoke his arms were empty and he felt himself moving faster than the usual rocking he had felt earlier. He wandered back down the halls and opened the hatch.

"Well look who woke up!" Sarah said and Liam squinted to see her smiling in the sun, steering the boat. "You must've been tired. It's like, ten." she said with a laugh.

"How do you know what time it is?" he asked groggy, hauling himself up and stretching. She pointed to the sky.

"The position of the sun." she said simply. He laughed.

"You can actually tell what time it is by the sun?" he asked and she giggled and shook her head.

"No, I'm lying." she pulled out an Iphone from her pocket. "I cheated." she winked. "We're almost to the shore. You were asleep for a while." she pointed out again.

"Yeah." he yawned. "It was a good sleep though." Sarah was avoiding his gaze-he knew it.

"What did you mean?" he asked her. She turned to him with a raised brow. "What did you mean when you said you wish you had fallen for a guy like me instead of putting up walls?"

She sighed and looked out on to the water. "I made myself guarded around guys. Never trusted them.. And then there was you-the same way with other people. And now finding that out...I just kinda wish you had come along earlier so i hadn't been so cut off before." she explained to him.

"I could say the same about you wanting to meet a girl like me so you could avoid a lot of let downs." she said with a chuckle and he nodded with a smile and saw the California sands on the horizon.

"Yeah, well i meant it. Things would have been simpler had _you_ come around earlier." he winked and she laughed.

"Wanna drive?" she asked.

"What?" he asked her. "You mean sail the ship?" he asked and she nodded with smile.

"Yeah, come here." she said. He stood behind her. "Now put your hands on mine." she instructed. He did so.

"If I crash this boat there is no way I could pay for it." he laughed with wariness and she rolled her eyes.

"Believe me, my grandparents are loaded. Now, hold on tight." she said and he tightened his grip on her hands. "Got it?" she asked and he nodded. "We're gonna turn." she told him and he nodded again. "Okay, here we go." she said, and Liam's hands never left the tops of hers as she turned the wheel slightly. He laughed realizing they'd done it.

"Wow. That's a relief." he said and she giggled.

"See? Nothing to worry about." The shore was coming closer and Sarah then ducked out from Liam's arms so he was left alone.

"Sarah!" he said and she smirked. "Why did you-" he began.

"You're fine. I'll help you out when you park." she said and he took a breath and nodded.

As they neared the dock, Sarah ducked under Liam's arms again, so her back was to his chest. She placed her hands on his and directed them into the docks, avoiding other boats and several floating cones. As they drifted into the designated parking spot, Sarah dashed out from Liam's caged arms and began letting several sails down and a defining _thunk_ sounded as the anchor was dropped.

"Kay, sweet." she smiled with her hands on her hips. "Now you can brag that you've driven a boat." she laughed and he nodded, letting go of the wheel. He hopped off the boat and onto the dock. Sarah stood on the rim herself, and Liam offered his hand to her. She took it and jumped down.

"Thank you." she said with a smile. He chuckled.

"You're welcome." he said, recalling the accounts of last night and how they repeated the same lines.

They began letting their toes sink into the golden sand, starting towards Offshore.

"I should probably be the one thanking you." Liam said. "I had an..amazing time out there. Really Sarah, I'm glad I could get away for a little while." he looked to her, and found she was looking at him too.

She shrugged. "Well, now you know what it's like. And I'll be coming down in the summer, so wanna meet up and do it again?" she asked and he nodded with a smile, despite him being upset she had to leave. He wondered what she would think if he had heard her last night.

They climbed the stairs to the sidewalk when someone called out,

"Liam!"


End file.
